A Wine Lover's Weekly Guide To $10 Wines - An Australian Sauvignon Blanc

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A Wine Lover's Weekly Guide To $10 Wines - An Australian Sauvignon Blanc

By: Levi Reiss

This is our second Australian wine review, and our first Sauvignon Blanc. Australia is a major wine producer partly because Australians drink well over twice as much wine per capita as do the Americans. The wine reviewed below comes from Victoria, Australia's smallest mainland state, which is second in the country's wine production.

Deakin Estate has been growing grapes since the late 1960s but started producing wine only in 1980. The company is named for Australia's second Prime Minister, Alfred Deakin. A University, a suburb of Australia's capital, and an earthquake fault also carry this guy's name. Let's see if this wine also has a fault.

OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price.

Wine Reviewed Deakin Estate Sauvignon Blanc 2008 12.5 % alcohol about $10

Let's start with the marketing materials. Tasting Note: Pale straw yellow; grassy, citrus, grapefruit and gooseberry nose; dry, light bodied, zesty on the palate with grapefruit nuances; clean finish. Serving Suggestion: Oysters; chevre; herbed chicken; salads; vegetable soup. And now for my review.

I started by sipping this wine alone. I remarked its lovely acidity and more than moderate length. The first meal started with sweet and sour barbecued turkey wings, and then an overcooked, dry barbecued chicken breast, accompanied by potatoes roasted in chicken fat, and a lime and garlic spicy tomato salsa served as a vegetable. With the turkey wings the gooseberry came forward with more than a touch of sweetness. In conjunction with the chicken the Sauvignon Blanc had a very pleasant lime taste but it was light. As one might expect, it was quite palate cleansing when dealing with the greasy potatoes. When paired with the salsa, the wine took on a bit of an ethereal quality and wasn't at all overwhelmed by the medium level of spiciness.

The second meal was a Middle-Eastern specialty ground beef in crushed bulgur jackets cooked in a somewhat acidic sauce containing Swiss chard. This dish is known as Kube or Kibbe. The Sauvignon Blanc was finely acidic with a note of sugar and some citrus. Later I enjoyed some high-quality French style lemon pie with a very buttery crust. The wine picked up acidity but unfortunately didn't display any citrus.

The final meal consisted of a simple omelet. The wine displayed refreshing acidity and tasted of grapefruit that could have been somewhat riper. Don't get me wrong; it wasn't harsh. It picked up strength and a note of sweetness with canned palm hearts and even more so with guacamole. The wine became rather unctuous presenting a note of lime. I finished the meal with cookies covered in dark chocolate (not the real stuff, but a good imitation) and the wine weakened.

As usual I finished the tasting with two cheeses. When paired with a Provolone this wine displayed good acidity and just a bit of lime. It was refreshing. Marbled Cheddar increased the Sauvignon Blanc's acidity and I tasted grapefruit. I was sorry not to have any goat cheese (chevre) the classic pairing for Sauvignon Blanc. I cannot remember when I was sorry not to have a cheese pairing.

Final verdict. I would definitely buy this wine again. It is a bargain. I recently reviewed a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc at twice the price that wasn't nearly as good. I intend to review here other wines from this producer.

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Levi Reiss authored or co-authored ten books on computers and the Internet, but really prefers drink fine German, Italian, or other wine. He teaches various computer classes at an Ontario French-language community college. His global wine website www.theworldwidewine.com features a weekly review of $10 wines and new sections writing about and tasting organic and kosher wines. Visit his wine, nutrition, and health website www.wineinyourdiet.com .

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